Glad to hear you're still diggin that Swift!
Yep, I'm one of those guys that advocates loading it down a bit to help with the barrel life, but ya know...if you've got loads that work on the top end then by all means enjoy them. I'm falling back into that trap with my fairly new Howa .204 too. It's another one that likes the top end loads and I'm sure I'll pay for it with a little shorter barrel life. But it sure is fun at the moment!
It's all about barrel harmonics and finding those "sweet spots" for each rifle/load...and yep, sometimes one sweet spot is really slow and the next step is right on the ragged edge.
I finally axed the Tasco World Class 4-16x off of my .25-06 a couple months ago for a 3-9x Swift, and I'm loving the update. Better eye relief and much clearer image through the entire mag range. But I'm sure the Tasco will find a home on another rifle someday...probably a rimfire so I can pick nose hairs off of gophers at 16x.
I still haven't splurged for any Nikon glass for myself although I've used a few on other guys' rifles. Have had a few lower model Leupolds and they're great scopes.
I'm not that much of a glass snob...I've usually stuck with low to mid price scopes and have had good luck with em but I have seen limitations with em.
My current favorite brand is the mid-range Swift scopes.